


The Undone Aesop

by SongbirdSilence



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Puns, Flowey thinks about things and is generally confused, Gen, Mild Language, More optimistic Sans, Pre-Floweypot AU, Spoilers, Spoilers - Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 05:20:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5362859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SongbirdSilence/pseuds/SongbirdSilence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Underground was going to become empty soon. It was possible that everybody might have already gone up. Flowey didn't feel compelled to check; he was going to stay here, with Chara. For as long as he deserved.</p><p>In complete silence.</p><p>"hey."</p><p> <i>Or not.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Undone Aesop

There was a troubling adjustment to be made after turning back into Flowey. From being so painfully, acutely sensitive to having everything numbed down again, it made his head spin.

He still had emotions, as a flower; he just wouldn't care anymore. Couldn't care about anyone but himself, because his determination was completely selfish. The difference in having a soul lied in how he processed these emotions. Anger. Disgust. Amusement. Satisfaction. Those were the sensations he was most familiar with. When these things coursed through him as if he had blood that could boil and simmer, that was when he could still feel alive.

But...

Sadness. Fear. Hope. Happiness? All of those faded away with the loss of his ability to care. It wasn't impossible for Flowey to grasp these, but it did prove to be incredibly difficult. Oh, how the flower had tried, only to come to the realization that not even his loving, pitifully distraught parents could budge his lack of sentimentality.

Now was one of those irregular moments where it sort of, "felt" like sadness? The lines were blurred, akin to how he was when he first turned into a flower. He was sickeningly hollow at the loss of his soul, yet the feeling wasn't nearly as intense compared to when he was Asriel. Uncertain, and still trying to hold onto something that wasn't there.

It was exhausting.

But perhaps there was something he had gained at the end of all this. When he first changed into Flowey, his last memory conveyed a message, a simple principle he followed with unwavering faith: "kill or be killed."

This time it was different. That wasn't how it had to be. There was this warmth he had once felt, and while it was gone now, it lingered as a sense of content, fulfillment, peace, one of those. Whatever he had supposedly gained, it couldn't have possibly been described with words.

But soon, those last echoes of morality would inevitably be silenced. It wouldn't mean a thing to Flowey, all of it, and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to take it.

Well, it didn't matter, right? The Underground was going to become empty soon. It was possible that everybody might have already gone up. Flowey didn't feel compelled to check; he was going to stay here, with Chara. For as long as he deserved.

In complete silence.

"hey."

 _Or not._ Flowey jolted at the voice, startled at being ripped from his thoughts. "Wh-who...?"

"no need to jump out of your petals. it's only me." A short skeleton walked up from behind to the flower's side.

Of course.

"What are _you_ doing here?" It was supposed to be threatening, but even to Flowey himself he sounded like a bratty kid. "Aren't you supposed to be with your little happy group of friends?"

Sans shrugged. "i was. frisk's probably heading back so we can all leave... but, i've got some time to kill." Eye sockets closed. "they've really come a long way. there was no pa _tell_ a-ing what would have happened, but i guess it turned out okay in the end." Sans scratched the back of his skull, grinning.

Flowey narrowed his eyes.

"not a punny kind of person? that's okay. just figured you could use some company before we head out. 'cause you don't seem like you're coming with. unless i'm wrong."

"Maybe you are."

"so you're coming with us?"

"I was talking about the first thing."

"so you do appreciate my humor."

Flowey's petals twitched in exasperation. "You know what I meant."

"man, you sure are jaded for a flower, huh?" Sans stretched.

A groan. "I'd really rather you just leaf me—"

...

 _...Why. Why oh why oh why._ Flowey didn't know whether to be irritated or shocked at himself, so he settled for both. Though the anger was quickly directed to the very amused skeleton. "Would you please wipe that look off your face?"

"sorry. can't really help it." Sans didn't seem sorry in the least.

 _Getting a kick out of riling up people! Isn't there something better he could do?_ The plant grit his teeth.

He sighed. "Look. Don't tell me you honestly expect me to be all buddy-buddy with you now that this is over. If you can so lovingly recall, I tried to gain control of everything and play with this world for my own entertainment. I tried to kill everyone. Why are you talking to me?"

Sans sat down next to Flowey. "well... i mean, dunno what happened between you capturing us and the barrier being destroyed, but kid. it's done. is there anything you're even fighting for at this point."

"You just don't get it."

"'get' what? i'm doing my best here, pal."

"There's no point!" Flowey huffed. "Can you honestly look at me and say that this is truly the end? That it won't just reset again? You know, thinking of doing it all again... _No, I can't do it._ But it's not up to me. It never was, from the very moment Frisk fell into the Underground."

He was pulling in and releasing air, almost choking, but he still felt breathless.

"I've seen you. You know about the timelines and determination. I don't know how, but you do. If this timeline starts over...if this happy ending is erased from existence... Nobody will remember anything. Not me. Not you. Not anyone, except for Frisk." Flowey chuckled humorlessly. "That's the hell we have to live with."

The atmosphere felt cold. For a moment, Sans looked just as tired as he did.

"And after that, we'll be enemies again. Even if I could somehow manage to care... It's pointless to become friends when I'm probably going to be fighting you again soon. I wouldn't be surprised if this conversation has already happened a hundred times over."

Silence. Flowey felt it weighing him down like a dead corpse inside a coffin. He almost felt tempted to laugh at how fitting the comparison was before realizing it wasn't funny.

"So just...stop trying." Flowey's gaze darted away. How long had it been since he had spoken in complete earnest?

Sans was unreadable. His bones appeared to be tense, and his eye sockets sunk lower, digging into his face. His grin was still glued on as if it was the only thing he knew how to do, albeit it felt oddly detached. It was an expression Flowey had never seen on him, strange considering the almost innumerable encounters they had with each other.

"you're right. we don't have any clue if frisk will reset, and if they do, when. and we can spend the rest of our life anticipating and being down about something that might not even happen. but honestly, pal, i'm done with that." A wink. "you could say i'm giving up on giving up."

"There's an erratic god in front of your face, and you can still say that without doubt." Flowey shook his head, stunned. "You just can't accept that this is all we're meant for."

Sans was unshakable. "no matter what's happened before, this time, they put all they had into breaking us out of here. i think it's only fair if we be happy. for frisk."

"That happiness is only going to be temporary."

A shrug. "s'kinda weird, but i... i believe in them. it's hard not to."

_I want to say, "Me too." I want to. But..._

_..._

_**Chara**..._

"i've got something to tell you. know how i said nobody remembers what happened before the barrier was destroyed? well, i have a good feeling the kid had a part in it. maybe you did too."

_You're not wrong._

"i'm not gonna ask. anyway, this kid... they've always held this sense of compassion, i'd call it. everyone they came across, whether they were sparing them or running away, they respected them. they knew that these monsters were their own pieces of the world. before we all found ourselves near the exit, what they were doing, i have no idea, but i felt it—frisk's compassion. they did something for us."

Sans closed his eye sockets. "i'm not saying that they're the best person out there. but they've been a real champ sticking with us this far. take it from me: no matter how much you don't wanna like them, they'll turn ya around faster than you can say uncle." His grin grew a bit bigger. "there's got to be good in them somehow. and..." He laughed a bit awkwardly. "uh, your name?"

"Flowey."

"flowey. i'll talk to them. and we'll make them so damn happy up there that they'll never even think about resetting." Sans shifted his pinprick pupils away, reluctant to continue. He did so anyway. "i promise." Sincerity was set firm in his tone.

"...Really?" Soft, almost childish; that was how his voice came out. What was this feeling? God, he felt like being a child again. Being simple. Being so easily fulfilled, no matter how insignificant he was. Trusting in everything. Unconditionally loving.

Could he?

"yeah. i do."

A pause.

"i'll leave you alone now, if you want. ya sure you'll be okay down here?"

Slowly, the flower nodded.

"okay." Sans stood up and began to walk away, before turning back and adding, "if you ever wanna join us, all you have to is ask."

"But..."

"no butts about it. you don't even have one." A cheeky wink; an irked scoff in response. "it might be kinda hard at first, but they're not gonna hold it against you for long. and you'll warm up to us. just think about it, alright? see ya."

With that, he disappeared.

Flowey sat there. There was no way things could possibly be much different. That skeleton was stupid for thinking so. It would be nonsensical to start trusting again. There shouldn't be any way Flowey could feel empathy. He wasn't Asriel. He shouldn't even be here. Chara would...would return and make Frisk reset, anyhow, so he wouldn't get a chance to live up there...

...and...

Dozens upon dozens of doubts filled the plant's mind, piling up and up and up with each second that he mused. He knew he must have been sitting there for a long time, giving himself reasons to not go up there with them.

Yet, a tiny phrase popped up as a rebuttal every time:

_But I'm determined._

Something small bubbled inside, telling Flowey to try. He didn't hold this world tight by its reins anymore, but that didn't mean he was worthless. The flower already done what was supposedly the impossible. He _was_ the impossible!

If Sans kept his promise, there was a chance for him to regain what was lost: for the soulless to grow a soul. He didn't have to do it alone, either.

There was a new goal in mind. He was going to satiate this new curiosity, this new "what if." It was time to get a never-ending ending.

Flowey stared at the place where his best friend was buried.

"I guess I'm an idiot too. Golly."

**Author's Note:**

> Yup, more Flowey and Sans interaction. God these two are so interesting to think about. I have this huge list of all the scraps I've jotted down about them. I'll probably incorporate some of those into future stories.  
> I think a lot of people write Sans to be more negative than he actually is. I'm kind of sick of that. Yes, it's true that he gave up on caring about timelines and all that, but he genuinely tries to see the good in Frisk throughout the game. Examples of this would be in Genocide when he says you can't be that terrible of a person if you like crosswords, and in a judgment where he says you might have fought in self-defense. So he does try to have faith in you. I wanted to play around with that more in this one.  
> Anyway. I'm most likely going to write more lighthearted Sans/Flowey stuff. It might be romantic, but that's up in the air.


End file.
